Urban parks and green spaces, like other urban spaces, are subject to erosion and need repair to sustain their environmental and social services. Citizens' priorities should be studied when improving urban green spaces. This study aims to identify the priorities and needs of citizens regarding the improvement of parks and public green spaces in Gorgan, Iran. The documentary and analytical survey in which data were mostly collected by distributing questionnaires among the residents of Gorgan. The results showed that the preferences of citizens varied with demographic variables and their socio-economic characteristics in some areas so that each group had its own needs. However, according to the citizens, the plant species of the parks and green spaces in Gorgan generally need to be diversified and this should be achieved by using all types of plants (broadleaf, coniferous, cover, and seasonal plants). Most people prioritized improving sanitation, supplying drinking water, and providing children's play equipment. Also, considering the needs of the disabled in the improvement of parks was the highest priority, and stone sidewalks were the most popular.
Snowflake is an ornamental-medicinal plant species native to the north of Iran. The production of this plant outside its natural habitat was studied in two separate experiments including (i) Seed propagation by the seeds primed with a temperature of 4 oC, 24 oC, or 27 oC, gibberellic acid (GA) at a rate of 50 or 100 mg L-1, and KNO3 at a rate of 0.1 % or 0.2 % and (ii) Propagation by the bulbs forced at a temperature of 4 oC, 24 oC, or 27 oC for 8 weeks, 4 oC for 4 weeks + 27 oC for 4 weeks, or 27 oC for 4 weeks + 4 oC for 4 weeks. The results of seed priming showed that the seeds treated with 4 oC or 27 oC did not germinate. The best treatment for increasing germination percentage, germination rate, seedling length, and seedling length vigor was 100 mg L-1 GA. Among the treatments that led to seed germination, the lowest values of the recorded traits were related to the seeds treated with 24 oC and 0.2 % KNO3. The results of bulb forcing revealed that the treatment of the dormant bulbs with 4 oC for 8 weeks was not appropriate for their flowering. The highest number of flowers (2.66 flowers), flower diameter (21.70 mm), days from bulb planting to flowering termination (149.5 days), and leaf number (6 leaves) were related to the bulbs treated with 27 oC for 8 weeks, but this treatment had the longest time to bud emergence (117.5 days), so it is not a good treatment for bulb forcing although it performed the best in terms of flower and leaf number, flower diameter, and the number of days from bulb planting to flowering termination. The shortest time to bud emergence (78.3 days) was obtained from the bulbs treated with 27 oC for 4 weeks + 4 oC for 4 weeks. So, this is recommended for snowflake forcing.
Attractive and colorful cultivars of cactus have been developed that are mainly propagated by grafting. The aim of this study was to determine histological events during graft union formation in Gymnocalycium cactus influenced by BA (Benzyladenine) application, grafting method and rootstock. The basal end of the scions and the top end of the rootstocks were first dipped into BA solution at concentrations of 0, 100 and 500 mg L-1 for 10 s, before being grafted on Lemaireocereus marginatus and Myrtillocactus geometrizans rootstocks using horizontal or wedge techniques. Longitudinal sections of the graft union were taken weekly to observe the developmental process of graft formation. The rootstocks did not have a significant effect on grafting success and scion growth, while horizontally grafted Gymnocalycium showed better grafting success rate. The grafting rate and scion growth were enhanced by application of BA compared with the control. The best results were obtained from treating the graft cut-surfaces of both scions and rootstocks with 100 mg L-1 BA. Histological observations showed that the graft union process involved development of a thin necrotic layer, callus formation at the graft interface, cambium differentiation and initiation of new vascular elements, developing the new vascular tissue, and connection of scion and rootstock vascular bundles. BA stimulated rapid proliferation of callus between the scion and rootstock as well as differentiation of vascular elements. We suggest the horizontal graft and application of BA (100 mg L-1) on the cut surfaces of both scion and rootstock as an easy and reliable method for successful graft union in Gymnocalycium cactus, which may have potential use in the commercial production of other cactus species as well.
This study aimed to assess the effect of different levels of nitrogen and potassium on tuberose's quantitative characteristics and identification of its associated pathogens in the Khuzestan province of Iran. The experiment was carried out at Safiabad Agricultural Research and Education and Natural Resources Center as a completely randomized factorial design with 3 replications. Factors included four levels of nitrogen (0, 100, 200 and 300 kg N ha-1) as Urea, three levels of potassium (0, 150 and 300 kg K2O ha-1) as potassium sulfate and a constant level of phosphorous (100 kg p 2O5 ha-1) as super phosphate. In current study, leaf nitrogen, spike length, leaf length, SPAD readings, leaf area index (LAI), optical depreciation coefficient, disease percentage and absorbed photosynthetically active radiation parameters were measured. The results showed that the effect of nitrogen on leaf length, SPAD readings, optical depreciation coefficient, absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, and disease percentage was significant at 0.05 probability level while on leaf nitrogen, spike length, and LAI was significant at 0.01 probability level. Potassium had no any significant effect on corresponding parameters in this experiment. In addition, the causal agents of necrotic spots on the tips and edges of the leaves and petals were identified as Botrytis sp., Curvularia sp., and Fusarium sp. while the main cause of necrotic spots on the petals was a thrips, which is probably either F.intonsa or F.schultzei species. Overall, the application of 100 kg ha-1 of nitrogen and no application of K2O are the best treatments and recommended for florists (in planting large bulbs).
